Displayed web pages contain various kinds of visual information, such as text, images, and links. In some cases, it is desirable to adapt visual information from another source (“included information”) for inclusion in a displayed web page. For example, it is sometimes desirable to adapt the contents of a first web page for inclusion in a second web page. This can be useful to present the contents of the second web page in the larger and more persistent context of the first web page.
Certain conventional techniques adapt included information from another source for inclusion in a displayed web page, in that they to adapt the contents of a first HTML web page for inclusion in a second HTML web page. As part of doing so, these conventional techniques transform links occurring in the second HTML web page such that, when these links are traversed, the linked-to information is also displayed in the context of the first HTML web page. These convention techniques also provide for the display of the second HTML web page within the first HTML web page.
These conventional techniques have significant limitations, however, that prevent them from successfully being applied to the more general problem of adapting included information from sources of a wider variety of types, for inclusion in web pages or a wider variety of types. In particular, these conventional techniques are unable to identify and transform links occurring in included information that is not an HTML document, such as included information that is an XML document. In order to enable products using these conventional techniques to identify and transform links occurring in documents of a new type, it would be necessary to develop and distribute a new version of such products.
These conventional techniques are also unable to discern between different types of links in the included document, and transform links of different types in different ways.
Additionally, these conventional techniques are unable to display certain constituent parts of included HTML documents that are not expressed in native HTML, such as XML data islands, which are commonly added to HTML documents by certain applications used to generate HTML documents.
In view of the disadvantages discussed above, a more universal and adaptable system for including information from another source in a displayed web page would have significant utility.